Ladder attachment



Nov. 9 1926.

H. T. WERK LADDER ATTACHMENT- Filed Nov. 23, 1925 Patented Nev. 9, 1926.

HENRY T. WEEK, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

LADDER ATTACHMENT.

Application filed November 23, 1925. Serial No. 70,927.

The primary object of this invention has been to provide certain simpleand very desirable improvements in the construction of ladders such asused by builders,'painters and others, for the customary purposes ofsuch devices.

The invention is especially adapted for use in conjunction with largeladders or extension ladders which are rather heavy and difficult forone man to manipulate to place in position on a building wall, or on theroof of a house. In fact, usually two men are required to place anextension ladder of any considerable length. In using the ladders one ofthe difliculties in positioning the same on a wall or roof is a tendencyof the upper end of the ladder to engage with projections, withshingles, with tiles, or the like, preventing the easy sliding of theladder into its proper place for use.

My invention contemplates the application to the upper end of a ladderor rollers which will permit it to move readily to a desired position.by' the action of said rollers forming roller bearings in an obviousmanner. In carrying out my invention, however, I mount the rollers onthe ladder in a peculiar way, namely in a yielding manner, so that whenthe ladder has reached its desired position of use, the applicationthereto of weight or pressure, incident to a person climbing up thesame, or on it, will render the rollers inoperative to perform theirordinary rolling function. Under these. conditions, when the ladder isactually being used, and the rollers or wheels at the upper end are ofno advantageous service, they become inactive automatically by theapplication of weight or pressure on the ladder, as regards theirrolling function.

I furthermore utilize rollers or wheels,

' such as mentioned above, of a peculiar form,

the same being rubber tired preferably, in

order that their peripheries may have a tendency to adhere to thesurface on which the ladder is mounted, or with which its upper end isengaged, under which conditions, the rollers act with a tendency toprevent lateral or side slipping movements of the ladder at its upperend which end is usually resting against the supporting wall when theladder is inclined, the said antiskidding function being present,however, when the ladder is laid flat upon a roof or in similarpositions.

The advantages of the use of my invention will appear readily upon studyof the description which follows, in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the top of the upper end of a laddershowing the invention applied thereto.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of one of the upper ends of the ladderlooking toward the outer side and showing particularly the spring plateand supporting yoke.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the portion of the ladderhaving the invention attached thereto.

Figure l is a bottom plan view of the attachment feature and Figure 5 isa perspective view of the lower reinforcing plate forming a bearingmember for the roller shaft.

Describing my invention specifically, A in the drawings denotes theupper end portion of a side bar of any ordinary construction of ladder.At 1 is shown the roller or wheel which is carried by said ladder nearits upper endand mounted on the side bar. Of course, both side bars ofthe ladder at their upper ends will be equipped with rollers 1, one foreach, and as the mountings of these rollers on the ladder sides or barsare identical, one alone need be described. It will be seen that theroller 1 is of a diameter enabling its peripheral portion to projectfrom a slot 2 in the ladder side A. While not absolutely necessary ofcourse, I preferably have on the periphery of the roller or wheel 1, arubber tire 3. The said roller 1 may be of any desirable constructionthis being immaterial to the invention and it is resiliently oryieldingly mounted on the ladder by means of a yoke 4 of somewhatU-form,

the sides of the yoke having openings or bearings receiving the shaft 5on which the roller 1 is journaled. The shaft 5 operates in a transverseslot'6 which extends crosswise of the side bar of the ladder as,distinguished from the slot 2 which is longitudinal of said side bar.The yoke V4 is support ed at its cross-piece or top by being pivoted orotherwise secured to a spring plate 7, the upper end of which isattached to the upper end of the ladder by suitable fastenings, and thelower end of which is slidably received beneath a holding plate 8 whichis attached to the top of the ladder side bar carrying said roller 1.The holding plate 8 prevents the displacement of the. lower end of theplate 7 from connection with the ladder side bar but permits sliding ofsaid portion of the plate 7 when pressure upward on the roller 1 issuflicient to bend or spring the plate 7 into curvature as shown bydotted lines in the drawings.

On the under side of the ladder side bar carrying the roller 1, isprovided a reinforcing plate 9 suitably fastened firmly in place byscrews or similar fastenings 10 and formed with a slot through which thewheel or roller 1 moves and operates. The portions of the plate 9 atopposite sides of its roller slot are bent to form bearing members 11that extend into the transverse slot 6 of the side bar A and providemetal bearing surfaces for the shaft 5 on which the roller 1 is mounted.These metal bearings, provided by the members 11, are desirable toprevent undue wear between the shaft or axis 5 and the walls of the slot6, as the shaft 5 moves up and down incident to the practical operationof my device. At its upper end, the plate 9 will be bent upwards andattached to the upper extremity of the part A by the same fasteningswhich secure the upper end of the spring plate 7 rigidly to the ladder.

In actual use the operation of my simple attachmentfor ladders will bequite apparent from the foregoing. Owing to the provision of the rollers1, a very large extension ladder can be handled by one man veryfrequently as it is pushed up, a wall or up a roof, there being notendency for the upper end of the ladder to engage projections becausethe rollers 1 will readily ride over the same. "When, however, theperson using the ladder starts to climb the same, to climb it, hisweight upon the ladder and On the rollers 1 at its upper end, will causethese rollers to enter the slots 2 and discontinue, practicallyspeaking, their rolling function. As the rollers have rubber tiredperipheries, the adhesion of the tires which form contacting meansbetween the upper end of the ladder and the wall or surface engaged,together with the actual engaging contact of the side bars A themselves,will prevent any tendency for lateral slippage of the ladder in a mannerwhich will be quite clear. I

My device is very simply made, can be constructed in manufacturing it,of sheet metal stampings very largely and will meet with a real need inthe art of ladder construction as a means for preventing accidents ofsome kinds and also as a means to facilitate the general handling of theladder in placing it in position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A ladder having the side bars thereof provided with transverse slotsand longitudinal slots, rollers mounted in the longitudinal slots,roller shafts mounted in the transverse slots and yieldingmeanscooperating with the shafts normally pressing them bodily outwards inthe transverse slots to thereby hold the peripheries of the rollersoperatively projected from the longitudinal slots. I

2. A ladder having the side bars thereof provided with transverse slotsand longitudinal slots, rollers mounted in the longitudinal slots,roller shafts mounted in the trans verse slots and yielding meanscooperating with the shafts, comprising spring plates movably mounted onthe side bars and having means connecting with'the roller shafts toproperly support the rollers normally so that they project from thelongitudinal slots.

3. A ladder provided with roller slots in its upper end portions,rollers mounted in said slots, and means yieldingly supporting therollers in said slots, consisting of spring plates secured to the sidebars of the ladder, and members carried by said plates supporting therollers'in operative positions on the ladder. v

4. In combination, a ladder provided with roller slots in its upper endportions, rollers longitudinally arranged in said slots, spring platessecured to the upper sides of the ladder at its upper end and yieldabletoward and from said sides, yokes carried by said plates, and rollershafts on which the rollers are journaled mounted in said yokes.

5. In combination, a ladder provided with roller slots in its upper endportions, rollers longitudinally arranged in said slots, spring platessecured to the upper sides of the ladder at its upper end and yield'abletoward and from said sides, yokes carried by said plates, and rollershafts on which the rollers are vjournaled mounted in said yolres, andreinforcing plates applied to the under sides of the ladder and providedwith bearing members for receiving said roller shafts.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

. HENRY '1. WEEK.

